No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
by SPT
Summary: Mitchell gets caught in the middle of a sibling rivalry gone bad.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished**

**Rating: K+**

**Disclaimer: I don't own or have any rights to Stargate SG-1 and its characters.**

**Summary: Mitchell gets caught in the middle of a sibling rivalry gone bad.**

"Hey Mitchell, your shadow's back."

"Ah hell," Cam non-too-gently dropped the equipment case he'd just hauled out of the temple.

Carter looked up at the dull thud, "hey, just because you're annoyed doesn't mean you can take it out on my equipment." She quickly flipped open the lid to check the contents of the case.

"Sorry Sam, but I was annoyed two days ago." He cut off his sigh of frustration as a young man approached the group, a young man who just happened to be the oldest son of the village Chieftain. He'd basically attached himself to Cam's hip as soon as they'd stepped through the gate nearly four days ago. "Hey Kitchny, what's going on?"

The young man suppressed his urge to focus all his attention on his new idol, and remembered his manners. "Col Carter, Dr Jackson, Teal'c, well afternoon to you all. Col Mitchell, may I have a word with you, alone please?"

Cameron raised an eyebrow that would have made Teal'c proud. In all the time they'd spent together, Kitchny had never been so reserved; his naturally energetic and inquisitive nature would have made a three year old jealous. Sam and Teal'c had compared him to Jonas Quinn on more than one occasion. "Ah yeah sure, just give me a second here." He turned back to his team and continued in a low tone, "guys, I'm getting the impression something is up here. Why don't you take this stuff to the gate, but be sure to keep an eye out."

Sam frowned slightly, "you sure?" She eyed Kitchny as he fidgeted nervously.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I don't think it's anything dangerous, I'm just being cautious- for once. I'll meet you at the gate." He took a deep breath and turned back to the future village leader, "lets go for a walk." He waited until they'd left the team behind before speaking again, "Ok, so what has you so worked up?"

Kitchny obviously didn't understand Cam's phrasing, but he got the point. "I wish to thank you for tolerating my behavior the last few days."

Mitchell eyed him for a second, "you could have done that in front of my team; what's really going on?" He continued on for a few steps before realizing that Kitchny had stopped.

The younger man hesitated slightly before answering. "I do not know how to lead my people. My father rules by fear, until your team visited our village I never knew there was any other way to lead. In addition to questioning you at every opportunity, I have observed your interactions with the team; they do not fear you, yet they follow your commands without hesitation."

Cameron scoffed, "yeah, about ten percent of the time. I'm guessing you're telling me this because you don't want to lead by intimidation?" He waited for a nod of assent before continuing, "then lead by respect, it'll get you a hell of a lot further in this life than fear will." They continued through the woods as Cam explained what he meant. "Look, from what I've seen, you would have made a very conscientious leader without my advice, so what's the problem?"

"I do not believe that my father or brother will approve of my methods, but I will not allow my people to live in fear any longer; they did for long enough under the Goa'uld." There was genuine fear in his eyes.

Mitchell stopped walking at Kitchny's hesitant tone. "Let me make sure I understand you right, you want us to have your back in case they try to depose you?"

"Than you are smarter than I thought brother."

Cam and Kitchny both turned to face the new arrival. Zaka, Kitchny's younger brother, stepped from behind a tree twenty feet to their left, holding an armed staff weapon.

Cameron was glad that he'd raised his weapon immediately upon hearing the new voice, he unconsciously moved in front of Kitchny. So much for this walk not being dangerous. "You're a little early; he won't be Chieftain for another month."

"No," Zaka corrected, "he will never be Chieftain."

Mitchell barreled into Kitchny a half-second before a blast erupted from a staff weapon to their right. He let out a yell at the intense burning sensation in his thigh. They landed in a heap at the base of another tree, Kitchny striking his head on a large root. Cam was able to think through the pain long enough to let loose a burst of rounds at the villager that had fired on them. He felt a momentary stab of satisfaction as his direct hit just before the blunt end of a staff weapon collided with the side of his face.

Zaka smiled with glee as he shoved the off-worlder off his brother, now he could claim his right as lord over his people. He reached down to pull the small gun from Mitchell's leg, the Col would make the perfect scape-goat for Kitchny's murder.

Cam tried not to groan aloud as he squinted, waiting for his vision to clear. This was _so_ his luck. When he was finally able to see more than just fuzzy shapes, the sight that greeted him was not a comforting one; Zaka and another villager stood over them with his sidearm aimed at Kitchny's chest. Moving as quickly as his muddled brain would allow, he kicked at Zaka just as the man fired. He was knocked flat again as a blast struck his chest, consciousness instantly leaving his body.

Zaka growled in frustration as he surveyed the two unresponsive men at his feet. Cameron's kick had barely been forceful enough to register, but it had been enough to disrupt him aim. He re-adjusted his grip on the unfamiliar weapon and aimed for his brother's heart again.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Zaka and the villager turned to see the rest of SG-1 top the rise of the hill with their weapons drawn.

Thinking quickly Zaka switched his aim to the advancing team, but made no move to explain the situation. He kept the pistol trained on Teal'c as Sam and Daniel dropped to their knees at Mitchell's side. He quietly instructed the villager to go find his father.

Sam winced outwardly as she took in his condition, blood flowed freely from both staff blast wounds and a cut high on his cheek bone. His breathing became more ragged as she and Jackson increased the pressure on his wounds, but she breathed a small sigh of relief when his eyes fluttered open. "Shh, clam down Cam, we're going to get you some help."

"Sam-" his speech was cut off by a painful bout of coughing. "Kitchny," he asked after catching his breath slightly.

"He'll be fine," Daniel laid a hand on his good shoulder, trying to comfort the agitated man. "We're going to give you some morphine to help with the pain then get you back to the SGC so Dr Lam can fuss over you."

"I'm afraid that will not be possible; Col Mitchell must face tribunal for the attempted murder of my son."


	2. Chapter 2

"Excuse me," Jackson could only pray he'd heard the Chieftain wrong. They'd just returned from their first trip to the gate when they'd heard the weapon's fire; Daniel was just glad that Mitchell and Kitchny hadn't had much a chance to get far.

"Zaka's Second informed me that he and my son came upon your Col Mitchell shooting at Kitchny. Thankfully, they were able to disarm him before he could hurt my son any further." The Chieftain's gaze traveled between his two sons; Kitchny was everything their mother had been- intelligent, compassionate, and stubborn to a fault-, but Zaka was the spitting image of himself- strong and ruthless.

"No," Cam cleared his throat trying to give strength to his voice; he tied to push himself into the sitting position but was restrained by Sam's gentle hand. "Zaka and his buddies there were the ones who tried to kill Kitchny. But hey, don't take my word for it, ask Kitchny when he wakes up." Mitchell allowed his head to drop back to the dirt, completely drained from his little speech.

"If Col Mitchell had wished to kill your son, he would have succeeded."

Sam, Daniel, and Cameron looked at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. Cam shook his head, "thanks for the vote of confidence, T."

The Chieftain took in the scene before him as he considered the possible outcomes of this fiasco. If Zaka was being truthful, then the earthling would die by his hand; and any hope of a treaty with Earth would be gone; of course, it Zaka had lied… He turned to the villagers that had accompanied him, "Take them to the village, we will have tribunal as soon as Kitchny is well enough to speak."

Carter was on her feet in a heartbeat, "he needs medical attention that we can't give him here. If you lock him up, he will die." Sam struggled against the two pairs of hands that had grabbed her as soon as she'd stepped toward the Chieftain.

"Whether he dies by my hand or nature's makes no difference; an attack on my family is inexcusable," he returned her fierce glare with vehemence. "However, since you seem so concerned for him, perhaps I shall allow you to share his accommodations." His villagers sensed his intentions and leveled their weapons at Teal'c and Daniel.

Seeing this, Cam struggled to his knees, his right arm dragging uselessly in the dirt. "No, the charge is only against me," he forced his head up to look the Chieftain in the eyes, "let them go." Cameron stood his ground until he saw the Chieftain's barely perceptible nod.

The Chieftain watched as the Col gave into his obvious pain and collapsed to the ground unconscious. "I will grant your leader's request, but you will not be allowed to leave the village and you will remain unarmed." He motioned for the villagers to pick up his son, and waited for Teal'c to collect Mitchell before leading the entire group out of the woods.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

"How's he doing?"

Sam looked up as Daniel and Teal'c entered the small room that had been designated for Cam's cell. "Not good, both wounds were packed with dirt, and I didn't have much to clean them with." She caught sight of the blankets in Teal'c's arms, thankful that the villagers weren't as distrustful of them as the Chieftain had been. "You guys have any luck?"

Jackson blew out a shaky breath. "I spoke to the village healer, Kitchny's got a concussion, doc doesn't think he'll be coherent for a while yet. When do you think the General will dial in?"

Teal'c moved to help Sam arrange the blankets around Cam, careful not to disturb the bandages that covered his right upper chest and left thigh. "We were not due to return for two days, I do not believe the General will contact us until then."

"In the mean time, we have to keep these wounds from getting infected and try to figure out how to convince the Chieftain that Cam didn't try to kill Kitchny." Carter moved her hand to his forehead, not liking the warmth she felt there.

Mitchell stirred slightly under her touch, murmuring something without opening his eyes.

The rest of the team instantly focused their attention on the injured man, "Cam?" She gently held a canteen to his pale lips and trickled a small amount of water into his mouth.

Cameron was able to swallow once before he choked, coughing weakly. "Ug, God that hurts," he tried to slow his breathing and rein in the pain. Mitchell blinked a couple of times trying to bring the faces hovering over him into focus; it took another minute for him to recall the events of the last few hours. "Kitchny," he inquired in a slight panic. Chances were that Zaka wasn't going to be dissuaded by one failed attempt and with the team still there, he could try to pin it on one of them again.

"Nice goose-egg on the back of his skull, but the doc says he'll be fine." Daniel eyed the dark bruise forming from Cam's temple to his jaw, "how's _your_ head?"

Mitchell gave a cheeky grin, "great-" he was interrupted by another short bout of coughing, "compared to the rest of me anyway." He caught sight of Sam's concerned frown out of the corner of his eye, "Sam, I'll be fine, I trust you guys, you'll find a way," the last few words were barely above a whisper.

Sam, Daniel and Teal'c shared a look, silently hoping that the Col's trust wasn't misplaced. Their only real hope was that Kitchny would regain conscious and confirm Cam's version of the events. On the other hand, if Kitchny decided to defend his brother, they were screwed, plain and simple.

"Guys, do me a favor," Cam propped himself up on his good elbow, careful to keep his right arm secured to his chest. "Don't go anywhere alone, I don't think Zaka's done with the whole seize the throne thing and he might try to frame one of you now." He collapsed onto his back in exhaustion. The blanket was scratchy against his bare chest and legs; he knew that Sam had needed to strip him to treat his wounds but it didn't mean that he had to be comfortable with it. Cameron motioned for the canteen in Sam's hands, knowing that he would need all the water he could get if he was going to regain his strength; he was grateful when Teal'c helped prop him up slightly to avoid choking again.

Daniel and Teal'c exchanged worried looks, "then maybe it's time we convince the Chieftain to put a little more protection around Kitchny."

"It couldn't hurt," Carter agreed. "Maybe while you're there you could play up he and Cam's rapport." She focused her attention back on their team leader, "I mean you were more than nice to the kid for three days, he obviously looked up to you."

"There is one thing that we have not considered…"

If it had been anyone but Teal'c, Cam would have accused them of pausing for dramatic effect.

"Kitchny may wish to spare his brother any punishment, and therefore may alter his version of the incident."

"Yeah, no good deed goes unpunished." Jackson focused on the others' looks of confusion, "oh come on, it's the SG-1 curse. We try to do something good, like let a kid follow us around or, heaven forbid, save his life, and it comes back to bite us in the ass." He continued pacing even after he'd finished his short rant. "Come on Teal'c, lets go see if we can win some brownie points with the Chieftain. Sam, you guys will be ok?"

"Yeah, I don't think you guys want to be here when I change his bandages anyway." She ignored the dramatic groan from her patient as she dug into her pack for supplies.

Mitchell waited until Daniel and Teal'c had left before whining, "do we have to, that's going to hurt like hell." Cam was usually the first to collect on the five dollar fee for whining, but after the way this mission had gone, he was entitled to a little whining, dammit.

"Yeah it is," Sam agreed, "but I'm still hoping I can keep these from getting infected." Finally satisfied that she had everything she would need, she flipped back the blankets and let out an uncharacteristic explative.

Cam fought to raise his head slightly at the words, "oh hell, that's not good," he stated as the remaining color drained from his face. The bandages that had once been so white and pristine were now stained a dark crimson with his blood. Mitchell closed his eyes in resignation, "just do what you gotta do Sam." He hissed as she peeled back the bandage covering his upper chest and shoulder, "ok, I take it back."

Sam didn't like how shallow and rough his breathing had become, but what worried her even more was the rose colored blush creeping outward from the edges of his wound. She watched as his left hand fisted into the blankets, every muscle in his face and neck tensed in pain, "Cam?"

"Just… hurry… up."

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Daniel paced the opulent chamber impatiently, what the hell could be more important than his son's life. He glanced over at Teal'c who stood still as a statue in the corner of the room; right now he seriously envied the other man's calm. Jackson practically ran to the doors as the Chieftain stepped through them.

The Chieftain didn't hide his dismay at seeing the two off-worlders in his anteroom. "I do not have time for you, my son has awakened, I must go to him."

Daniel and Teal'c shared a look of apprehension, moment of truth, before turning to hurry after the Chieftain. Jackson tried several times to get the older man's attention before dancing around in front of him, "look, Col Mitchell thinks that Kitchny may still be in danger."

The Chieftain brushed by him without a second glance, "my son is in no danger now that your Col has been locked up, but my guards watch over him as well."

"Yeah, the same guards that tried to kill him and Mitchell this morning I'm sure." Daniel was unprepared when the Chieftain whirled and took a firm grasp on his throat. He saw Teal'c step forward to defend him, only to be stopped by several lowered staff weapons; the deadly promise of retribution remained in his eyes.

The Chieftain slowly released his grip, "do not presume to know the workings of my village. You may accompany me to see Kitchny, but you will not speak another word in my presence."

Knowing that Mitchell's life may well depend on what Kitchny had to say, they wisely kept their mouths shut and fell in behind the Chieftain.

Kitchny looked up as the three men entered his room, "father, Dr Jackson, Teal'c, where is Col Mitchell?"

Daniel opened his mouth to reply but caught the Chieftain's warning glare. Considering his throat was still sore from speaking his mind a few minutes ago, he chose to wait for the Chieftain to reply.

"You do not recall this morning's events?"

"How did I get here, father?" He waited a second before realizing that he would not get an answer to his question until he answered his father. "I remember taking a walk with Col Mitchell, but nothing else."


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel stormed through the streets of the village ranting about curses, ruling class politics and any other subject that made the mistake of coming too close to the edge of his consciousness. Most of Teal'c's storming occurred in his dark eyes, but that didn't stop the villagers from getting the hell out of his way as fast as they possible could. Jackson didn't stop his rant as he brushed past the guards outside Mitchell's cell and slammed the door behind him.

"Jackson, you'd better have a damn good reason for waking me from _that_ dream."

Daniel frowned with concern- he seemed to be doing that a lot lately-, Mitchell's voice hadn't sounded nearly that weak and breathless when they'd left. "Tribunal's tomorrow at noon; that (expletive deleted) Chieftain practically said how much he would enjoy killing you as soon as possible."

"Nope, not good enough," Cam stated as his eyes slid shut again, _trying_ to pretend that he wasn't in the second worst pain of his life.

Sam and Teal'c mirrored Daniel's frown; they watched their team leader in silence until it appeared that he'd fallen back into a restless sleep. Carter motioned for the two men to follow her out of the small room, they moved several feet away from the suspicious guards before she dared speak, "we have to get him out of here, NOW."

"I believe you stated that an escape attempt would most likely kill Col Mitchell." Teal'c hated seeing the man hurt as much as Sam and Daniel did, but he would rather see him alive and in pain than dead.

Daniel searched Sam's eyes; the fear and grief he saw there scared him more that he could say. "What are you not saying, Sam?"

Carter sighed, knowing that she was the only one who truly understood how close they were to losing Cam right now. "He's probably not going to make it no matter what we do now; his temperatures up, both wounds are infected, and I haven't been able to stop the bleeding completely. I won't wait around for him to die, at least this way we give him a chance."

Jackson couldn't believe this was happening; he'd never really had a problem with Cam but lately he'd come to think of the other man as a surrogate younger brother. He'd forgotten how much fun it could be to hangout with someone who had a similar outlook on life and was so close to his age. He considered a number of people at the SGC family, he'd just had to up that number by one when Cam came along and dragged him, kicking and screaming, back to the team. "Can we wait till nightfall?"

"I don't see that we have any choice, we won't make it ten steps in the daylight. Daniel, you're AB negative right?

Daniel raised an eyebrow, "yeah I am, what's Mitchell?"

"He's A positive, and I'm AB positive," her shoulders sagged, "so I guess a transfusion is out." She should be able to do more for him; she had the medical training, it was her job to keep him alive and she was failing. Sam looked up when she felt the weight of an arm across her shoulders; she leaned into Teal'c's embrace and cried silent tears onto his chest.

Daniel rubbed the small portion of her back that wasn't covered by Teal'c's arm. "You've done everything you could, Sam; Mitchell's strong, if anyone can make it through this, it's him. Is there anything we can do for either of you until it gets dark?"

"I need more water, and bandages if you can find them." She sniffed and wiped a hand across her eyes; Sam knew how healthy a good cry could be, but not until she was home alone.

They went their separate ways, each hoping that sunset would come quickly.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Kitchny leaned heavily on his windowsill, watching the village bustle below him. His eyes reflected the turmoil of the skies in front of him, the coming storm was going to be big, in more ways than one.

It hadn't taken very long for the memories to come flooding back, and even less time for him to wish they hadn't. His brother's attempt on his life only reinforced the fact that his people needed him to be the kind of leader that Col Mitchell was. If what the team had said about the Ori was true, his people would need unquestioning belief in his leadership to survive with their religious freedoms intact. His father would never allow him to become Chieftain if he knew the truth of what had happened; it came down to his people's welfare or Col Mitchell's life.

The only real question was, could he live with himself if he allowed Col Mitchell to be killed.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Carter used the last of the water from the canteen to wet the portion of cloth she'd ripped from her t-shirt. She gently wiped the sweat from his flushed face and neck, taking care to make sure the cut on his cheek remained clean. It would be inconsequential if that became infected now, but keeping it healthy had been her one small victory, one that she was determined to keep.

Cam continued to toss feverishly under her ministrations; weak coughs and catches interrupted his shallow breathing much more often now than they had an hour ago. Sam pulled down the blankets so that she could wash down his chest. It didn't take long for her eyes to become fixated on the set of silver dog tags that lay nestled in his soft chest hair. Sam fingered the one on the smaller chain, hoping with every fiber of her being that she wouldn't be the one to separate it from the larger chain.

She bit her lip and sniffed back the tears that were threatening to fall again. "Cam, I'm so sorry, I did everything I could but it just wasn't enough- as usual. You were there when I needed you, you kept me alive- saved the village, and now I can't do the same for you."

Carter abandoned her attempts to cool him, the shirt was dry now anyway, in favor of stroking his unblemished cheek. "I can't thank you enough for bringing our family back together, and wiggling your way into all our hearts. We would have given up a long time ago without your guidance and encouraging shoves to keep fighting; I can't even describe how much I'm going to miss you."

Mitchell's eyes opened fractionally at her last words, "Sam, wha-"

She continued to stroke his face, "I'm sorry Cam, I just couldn't lose another person I love to this job without saying goodbye."

Cam forced his eyes open complete so that he could look directly into her glistening blue ones. "-survived the crash… and plague, _this _is _not_… going to bring me down; I… promise."

Sam held her breath as his blue eyes, so clouded with pain and fever, drifted closed again. She leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his forehead, "and I promise not to give up on you. You're one of the best friends I've ever had, I won't lose you now."

Daniel's heart jumped into his throat when he saw Sam forehead to forehead with Cameron, her right hand clutching his dog tags desperately. He swallowed hard, "is he…"

Sam looked up, deliriously happy that she was no longer alone. "No, he's still with us." She took the water from Teal'c and resumed her work of cooling her patient, "how long until sunset?"

Neither Daniel nor Teal'c missed the determined change in their teammate as they joined her by Cam's side. "It appears that our luck may have finally changed for the better; a large storm is bringing darkness sooner than expected."

Daniel laid a hand on his team leader's forehead, letting the unnatural heat he felt there seep into his hand; Cameron's skin was completely ashen under the flush of fever. "Vala's going to take this really hard, hell the whole base will." He left it unsaid that he would be even more affected than they would.

"I believe Col Mitchell would be very disappointed to hear you speak this way while he is still alive," Teal'c gently admonished. "Col Mitchell has a great will to live; as he has often said to me: 'the minute you accept your fate, you're as good as dead, until then all bets are off.'"

Jackson gave him a sad smile, "you're right Teal'c, I shouldn't write him off yet. So, how do we get him out of here?"


	4. Chapter 4

Silence greeted his question; they'd all run through the scenarios a dozen times in their heads, none of them ended well. Even if they managed to take out the guards and ditch their chaperones, they still had to make it out of the village center all while being careful with Cameron. They were all so absorbed in their thoughts that they didn't respond to the soft rustling from the corner of the room.

"I am too late."

The team looked up at the forlorn voice that seemed to come from nowhere, "Kitchny?"

"I am here, Dr Jackson." Kitchny's upper body seemed to materialize from the straw floor, "but I am too late, Col Mitchell is dead, is he not?"

As usual, it only took Sam half a second to understand the situation, "Goa'uld escape tunnels."

"That is correct Col Carter, my friends and I discovered them when I was a child, they link every building in the village and lead to the temple. I have come to help you escape; I had hoped to be able to save Col Mitchell's life as he did mine." Kitchny hung his head in defeat; this was not at all the way he'd hoped to begin his rule.

"He's not dead Kitchny, but he will be soon if we don't get him back to the SGC. Are you willing to help us?" Daniel didn't miss the way the young man's eyes had lit up at the news.

"Of course! I will go gather my friends and more weapons, it should not take more than-"

He was interrupted when Cam broke into a hoarse cough. Carter reached out to lay a comforting hand on his chest; her hand stopped in mid-air at the appearance of bright red blood on his slack lips. SG-1's collective curse hung in the air as they turned back toward Kitchny.

"-perhaps we should leave now." He and Daniel quickly cleared the entrance to the tunnel as Sam and Teal'c wrapped the blankets tightly around Mitchell. He gave a small cry as they shifted him toward the small opening in the floor.

"Should we provide something to alleviate his pain," Teal'c asked with concern.

Sam shook her head, "we can't, his breathing is already too weak, the morphine could send him into respiratory arrest. We'll just have to do this as quickly and gently as possible." She gave them all a pointed look.

Kitchny and Teal'c disappeared through the opening, followed shortly by Cam's head and shoulders, his descent guided by Sam and Daniel up top. Cam whimpered softly throughout the process, each sound cutting through his friends like a knife. Sam kept a close eye on his breathing, fearful that it would stop at any second.

The tunnel turned out to be little more than a three foot by five foot square cut through the earth; clumps of dirt and rocks littered the floor. It didn't take Daniel's unique knowledge to know that the tunnels had been hastily built centuries ago; 'tread softly' was the phrase that came to mind. They traveled for several minutes before taking a right onto what was obviously the main tunnel.

"Teal'c, hold up a second," they gently lowered their team leader to the dirt floor. Sam slipped around Daniel as he stretched his hands, they'd become cramped from gripping the blanket so tightly. "How's he doing?"

Sam looked up from her place at Mitchell's head, "well, he's breathing and he's still got a pulse; that's about all we can ask for right now." She took another thirty seconds to check his bandages again; the appearing red patches were not what she'd hoped to see, "let's get a move on."

Sam stood, trying to stretch her back without her head connecting with the ceiling; traveling hunched over as far as they had was not exactly conducive to good body mechanics. She felt especially bad for Daniel and Teal'c, Cameron was not a small man. She moved to step around Daniel so that they could continue on their way. A fraction of a second later she was watching the dirt floor rush up to meet her at high speed.

Jackson saw Sam's feet tangle in the blankets; he was reaching for her before she'd even stumbled. Unfortunately, Daniel mis-judged their combined momentum and they tumbled into the wall of the tunnel before landing on the floor in a heap. The ominous rumbling that immediately followed their landing had them scrambling for any form of cover while Teal'c and Kitchny hauled Cam forward.

It took several minutes for the dust to clear and Teal'c to gather the courage to move again. He coughed several times to clear the dust from his lungs before turning to check on Cameron and Kitchny; he was glad that Sam had recovered Mitchell's face before standing, thereby saving the already injured man from further harm. "Col Carter, Daniel Jackson, are you unharmed?"

Daniel lifted his head from where it rested on Sam's back, "you ok," he whispered.

Carter nodded, slipping out from underneath him, "we're fine Teal'c, how's everyone on your side?" She eyed the wall of dirt and rock that now separated her and Daniel from the others.

"Kitchny and I are unharmed; Col Mitchell's condition remains unchanged." He turned to Kitchny, "it will take too long to dig through-"

Kitchny understood immediately, "Col Carter, if you take the last side tunnel we passed, it will lead you to a shed at the edge of the village. Teal'c and I will meet you at the Great Ring."

"Got it," Daniel and Sam took off at a run, back down the way they'd come. With any luck, they could get to the gate and have a wormhole opened by the time the others showed up.

Teal'c and Kitchny rearranged the blankets so it would be easier to carry Cam; he prided himself on his endurance, but his back was getting close to reaching its limit. Teal'c's concern grew the longer they traveled in silence; before the collapse Mitchell's quite moans had been a reassurance that he was still with them. He fought the urge to set their precious cargo down to check his condition, but the sooner they got to the gate, the better off they'd all be.

It wasn't long before they emerged from the tunnels into a small side room of the temple. Kitchny turned to re-cover the tunnel entrance while Teal'c took the opportunity to check Cameron's vitals. "His respirations are becoming weaker, we must hurry. We can move faster if I alone carry Col Mitchell." Kitchny simply nodded and led the way out of the temple.

Kitchny had no doubt that Teal'c could carry his team leader the last two hundred yards without a problem, so he ran ahead to meet Sam and Daniel at the Great Ring. He arrived just as Daniel began dialing.

Jackson finished the sequence and reached for his IDC remote before the realization hit him, "the Chieftain has our radios and IDC."

"There's a spare in the equipment," Sam hollered over her shoulder as she ran towards Teal'c; she uncovered Cam's face as she reversed her course and they moved to the foot of the gate. "I'll take care of Cam, you go help them search for the IDC or a radio." Carter gazed at the puddle as she focused on the weakening heart beat beneath her fingers. His skin was searing hot beneath her touch, even in the coolness of the night.

It took her nearly ten seconds to admit to herself that the thump beneath he fingers had stopped. She didn't waste any time after that, immediately stripping the blankets from him and beginning chest compressions.

"Damn it Cameron, you promised!"


	5. Chapter 5

"I got it!" Jackson held up the radio in triumph only to duck instinctively at the flash of lightning overhead, the simultaneous deluge that fell from the sky had everyone soaked to the skin within seconds. "Walter, it's Daniel Jackson, we've got a level one medical emergency here, I need you to open the iris immediately!"

The was a slight hesitation before, "-iris is open Dr Jackson; you're free to come through."

"Get a couple pints of A positive and an AED ready for us!" Sam continued the chest compressions and rescue breathing for Cam until Teal'c literally snatched him from beneath her hands.

"We must hurry Col Carter." Teal'c sprinted toward the gate with his burden, not bothering to ensure that the other were following him. He heard the familiar clang of his footsteps on the metal grate as he exited the wormhole and began kneeling to place Mitchell on the ramp so that the med team could work their magic.

Sam was right on his heels as he emerged from the puddle, but she was unprepared for him to stop two steps out. She did everything possible to slow her momentum, but with Teal'c already off balance they didn't stand a chance. Carter heard the distinct crack of bone several times as the three tumbled down the ramp; a searing pain in her wrist told her that at least one of the cracks had come from her.

On the other end of the wormhole, Daniel hesitated before following his friends home. He attempted to wipe the water from his face, but knew it was pointless considering the rain still pouring down on them. "Kitchny, I-," he paused, not sure how to thank the young man.

"It was my honor, Dr Jackson, please give my regards to Col Mitchell when he recovers."

Jackson didn't miss that Kitchny had used the word _when_ not _if_, apparently he too had recognized Mitchell's stubborn streak. "Will you be ok here?"

Kitchny nodded, "everything will resolve as it should. I will use what I have learned from Col Mitchell to lead my people to a bright future."

"You're a good man Kitchny." Daniel offered his hand and smiled when the other man shook it. "We'll keep in touch." He turned and hurried through the gate, anxious to check on Cam's condition. Jackson stopped at the top of the ramp and peered down at his friends lying in a jumbled heap on the floor below him. Sam's bark of disbelieving laughter took him by surprise.

"I don't believe it," she looked up, smiling at Teal'c, the pain in her wrist completely forgotten, "the fall was enough of a shock to restart his heart." She quickly moved out of the way as Dr Lam appeared beside her with a liter of blood and a wide-bore needle.

One look at his blood soaked bandages told Carolyn she'd made the right choice. She ignored the others- none had obvious injuries- and focused her attention on Cam's vitals as her team secured him to the stretcher. Lam could only shrug her shoulders at her father's questioning look as they rushed past him in the hall.

Landry entered the gate room to find three quarters of SG-1 standing at the bottom of the ramp looking rather similar to very dirty drowned rats. He'd been in the control room when their call for blood and an automated electronic defibrillator had come in, his own heart had nearly stopped at that moment. He could tell that they were less than ecstatic to be detained while Mitchell's life hung in the balance. "Tell me later," he muttered as he ushered them out the door and toward the infirmary.

Daniel fell into step next to the General, "when is SG-4 scheduled to return, sir?"

"1100 hours, Vala?"

"Yes sir, I'd rather she heard it from me." Jackson was herded off to the side with Sam and Teal'c to be examined by the one nurse that wasn't hovering over Cameron.

Sam kept her right wrist tucked close to her body as she waited for the nurse to finish with Daniel; now that they were safe at the SGC and the adrenaline was starting the wear off, she was registering every pain signal her body was sending. It was then that she noticed Teal'c was also holding his right arm rather protectively, "Teal'c?"

Teal'c followed her gaze to his arm, "I believe it was broke in the fall." He winced as he experimentally flexed the limb in question.

Carter closed her eyes in sympathy, "yeah, sorry about that."

"I am not, I believe the benefit of saving Col Mitchell's life far exceeds the pain of such a small injury." Teal'c was observant enough to see that Sam had incurred the same injury, his eyes sparkled with mischief, "and now we shall be twins for a short while."

"Triplets," Daniel piped up, trying to keep the banter going and their minds' off Cam's near death experience; he nodded to where two nurses had just finished splinting Mitchell's right wrist. "Now I'm really glad I stayed behind to thank Kitchny." He winced in sympathy as the nurse palpated Sam's wrist, "did I mention I was glad?"

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Vala couldn't help but laugh at the horrible joke Lt Anderson had told immediately before entering the wormhole; the young man was obviously totally infatuated with her, it was the least she could do.

She was half way down the ramp before she spotted Jackson standing amongst the marines. "Daniel, you're back early; did you miss me _that_ much?" She stopped in her tracks when he didn't respond right away, that comment had _never_ failed to get a rise out of him before. "Daniel, what's wrong?"

Jackson inclined his head toward the hall, not wanting to discuss the situation in front of SG-4, "Mitchell was injured off-world."

Vala bit her lip, waiting for the other shoe to drop. One of the team being injured off-world wasn't exactly a novel concept, so why did Daniel look completely freaked out? "And…"

Daniel let out a heavy sigh, "just… follow me." He took her by the elbow, attempting to guide her toward the infirmary.

But Vala just dug her heels in, "no Daniel, you will tell me what happened." Her imagination was already running rampant with worst case scenarios; she'd heard that the fear of something was _always_ worse than reality; she could only pray that was true in this case. Either way, she needed to know what to expect.

Jackson reluctantly took a few steps back so that he could face her. "He got hit by a couple of staff blasts; we weren't able to come back right away so the wounds got infected." He glanced down and studied his shoes, if he said the next words out loud it would mean admitting them to himself and he wasn't sure he was ready to do that yet. But Vala wanted, deserved the truth. "It's bad, Carolyn said he-" Jackson broke off as Vala spun on her heel and took off towards the infirmary; he followed three steps behind.

Vala stopped immediately inside the door and put a hand to her mouth as she took in Cameron's condition. She'd been on Earth long enough to know that the tube disappearing down his throat was there to help him breath, but not long enough to understand the displays of the various machines attached to him. His bruised and sweat-sheened face was lined with pain, even in his unconscious state. The thick gauze pads covering his right chest and shoulder peeked from beneath the thin blanket as a reminder of exactly how large the wound was.

Finally satisfied that she'd inspected every inch of her friend's body, Vala allowed her eyes to wander over to Sam and Teal'c, both curled up asleep on chairs in the corner of the room. She nearly cracked a smile at their matching bright purple casts, wondering how the hell Teal'c had talked Sam into that one.

She leaned her head onto Jackson's shoulder as he put an arm around her, "he's going to be alright, isn't he?"

Daniel placed a tender kiss on the top of her head, "yeah, he will be," he murmured, mainly to convince himself. "You guys really bonded on your trip to Kansas last week, didn't you?"

Vala didn't bother answering as she snuggled further into his comforting embrace; her eyes continued to follow the reassuring rise and fall of Cam's chest.


	6. Chapter 6

**So I had intended for this to be the last chapter, but most things don't turn out like you intend. This one's a little disjointed but it was a necessary evil.**

"Hey, you want to see something funny?" He didn't wait for her answer as he moved forward and flipped the blanket back to expose Cam's right wrist encased in yet another bright purple cast. "Sam wouldn't agree to it unless they put one on Mitchell too."

"Oh, he's going to be mad if her wakes up, _when_ he wakes up," she quickly corrected. She and Daniel turned at the soft laughter behind them.

"I see you've discovered Teal'c's little joke; he called them the three musketeers."

"More like the three stooges."

The amusement left Carolyn's eyes and she quickly turned her back on them, ostensibly to check the monitors. Her frown deepened the longer she stared at the displays.

Vala caught the nearly imperceptible shake of Lam's head, "what's wrong?"

"He's not improving." She bit her lip as she adjusted the flow of antibiotics into his IV, "his temperature should have gone down and he should be breathing on his own by now." She fussed with his cardiac leads for a bit longer, not at all happy with the readings. "Vala, don't forget your post-mission check-up, ok."

Vala nodded, not wanting to leave Cam's side, but knowing that she still had to follow the rules. Daniel had no idea how spot on he'd been when he'd said they'd bonded last week. Meeting his family and seeing how close he was to his parents had given her some very surprising insights into Cam's personality; their late night talks had eased so many of her worries without her even realizing it. She'd always been jealous of the easy yet incredibly close friendship that existed between Cameron and Sam; even in the beginning when she'd worked so hard to convince herself that she didn't need anything from any of them, she'd wanted that. And now that she'd had a taste of it, she couldn't wait to experience the rest. What she had with Daniel had always hinted at their underlying chemistry, but even though she'd flirted shamelessly with Cam, she'd only ever wanted him to be that protective-older-brother-type of friend.

Of course, as sexy as he was, she wouldn't have objected to adding some '_benefits_' to the relationship.

Jackson gave her shoulders a squeeze, knowing that her thoughts were a million miles away. "Why don't you go get checked out, meet me in the commissary when you're done. Those two," he nodded to where Sam and Teal'c were snoring in the corner thanks to some pain medication from Carolyn, "will need some food when they finally wake up." He felt her hesitation and saw the fear in her eyes, "Vala, he hasn't moved in twelve hours, I don't think you're going to miss anything in the next two." Jackson gently steered her out the door.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Landry looked up at the gentle knock on his door, "Col, come in. How is Col Mitchell?"

Sam slid bonelessly into the chair in front of the ornate desk; military decorum be damned, she was scared and tired and frustrated and… "Carolyn says he's starting to breath on his own; she's going to try taking him off the ventilator later tonight. Unfortunately, the antibiotics haven't made a dent in his fever or the infection yet, and I think she's still worried about the internal damage from both wounds."

The General nodded, wishing for all he was worth that the members of his flagship team weren't industrial sized magnets for injuries and trouble in general. "Do I need to declare this planet hostile?"

"I don't think so, sir, especially not after this month." Carter shifted in the chair, trying to find a more comfortable position for her throbbing wrist before launching into a description of the ill-fated mission. "The future Chieftain, Kitchny, started following Col Mitchell around the second we stepped through the gate and you know Cam sir, he didn't have the heart to send the kid away. Anyway, Cameron got caught in the middle of an assassination attempt by Kitchny's younger brother, Zaka; he was going to frame Cam." She stopped as a sudden realization hit, "three murder accusations in two years; that has to be a record sir, even for us. The Chieftain ordered a tribunal, but I think it was only a formality. Kitchny helped us escape through some old tunnels the villagers used to flee during the reign of the Goa'uld. I don't see any reason we can't go back, especially after Kitchny is made Chieftain next month; we just have to keep an eye out for Zaka."

"Thank you Col, I'm sure you're anxious to get back to Col Mitchell." The couple of times he'd made it down to check on the man's condition, the entire team had always been there. He wasn't naïve, he had known that it had taken awhile for them to accept Mitchell as their team leader; but now it was easy to see that not only had he been accepted by the team, he'd been made a member of a very special family.

"Actually sir, Carolyn kicked us out for the night, told us to go sleep in a real bed for once." Sam knew that Lam understood their need to be there, but they'd somehow managed to drive her over the edge in the last forty-eight hours.

"Then maybe I should make that an order Col, and pass it on to the rest of the team."

"Yes sir," Sam heaved herself out of the chair to leave Landry to his paperwork. "We'll get the reports to you as soon as possible, sir."

"Take your time, Col, and get some sleep."

"Thank you, sir."

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Cameron struggled against the unseen force that held him down. He was finally able to force his eyes open, but had to wait for them to adjust to the bright light before he was able to visually assess his situation.

A voice in his ear would have had him jumping for his weapon had he been able to move, "Now that your escape attempt has failed, you will watch as I execute your team and my son for helping you."

Mitchell struggled harder and succeeded in rolling onto his side. The pain that flared through his chest and leg at the movement took his breath away, but he was able to see Kitchny and his team on their knees and surrounded by armed staff weapons. He looked into each of their eyes and saw that notorious core of defiance mixed with just a hint of fear that this might actually be it.

"Cam don't move, you'll open your wounds again."

Typical Sam, there's a weapon to her head and she was worried about him. He was about to open his mouth to point this out when the Chieftain stepped between them; without warning he fired his own staff weapon at Sam.

"No!" Cam's scream came out barely above a whisper, "Sam?" Try as he might, he couldn't force his body to cooperate and move toward her. The Chieftain finally stepped out of the way and allowed him to see Carter; her face was buried in Daniel's shoulder, dark blood flowed freely from a wound on her forearm.

"That was for speaking out of turn Col; remember that, and your tribunal will be quick and painfree." Tribunal turned out to be nothing more than a short speech on the power of the Chieftain and how betraying him was punishable by death, yada, yada, yada.

Cam hadn't paid much attention to the speech, choosing instead to force his brain to focus on finding a way out, because no way in hell was he going to allow his team to be executed before his eyes. The speech ended before he'd realized it, Mitchell locked eyes with Teal'c as the guards took aim again. Using every ounce of energy he could summon, he leapt at the two men closest to him just as the guards opened fire. "NO!"

Carolyn's head jerked up at the faint sound of a scream a fraction of a second before the alarms sounded in her office; instinctively she headed for Cam's room, running into Sam and Teal'c on the way. One look at Lam's panicked expression was enough to spur them into action, but an empty bed greeted their arrival into Cameron's room. A quiet moan and pained breathing could be heard in the resulting silence. Carolyn's eyes quickly followed the slack leads to the far side of the bed, "Cameron?"

"First step's a-a… doozy."

Sam sighed with relief, "not if you stay in bed like you're supposed to, Cam." By that point they'd reached the other side of the bed to see him sprawled out on the floor, blood seeping from both staff blast wounds and his arms where the IVs had ripped free. "Hell of a way to let us know you're awake."

Mitchell tried to give her a reassuring grin, but had to squeeze his eyes shut against the pain as Teal'c gently lifted him back into the bed, "-you're tellin' –me." He managed to keep his eyes open for a few more seconds before giving in to the encroaching darkness.

"Well, I would have much rathered that he hadn't fallen out of bed, but his vitals are much better," Carolyn stated after she'd managed to reattach all his leads and IVs, "breathing and heart rate are stronger and his temp is down slightly." She turned back to Sam and Teal'c as Daniel and Vala joined them, "I think it's safe to say that he's finally out of the woods."

"That is indeed good news," Teal'c's grin mirrored Lam's.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

"Cameron Mitchell, you are incorrigible, and the answer is no."

Cam put on his best puppy-dog eyes, "please Doc, it's been almost three weeks."

"Yes, and you weren't even coherent for the first week, so the answer is still no." Carolyn crossed her arms over her chest, daring him to ask again; of course, daring Cam to do anything was pretty much a guarantee that he would do it.

"Give it a rest Mitchell, I think you've finally found someone as stubborn and hard-headed as you are." He turned quickly, realizing that Lam might not take that as a compliment, "and I mean that in the nicest possible way Carolyn."

Vala couldn't hold in her laughter any longer, "oh, and you're not stubborn and hard-headed at all, are you Daniel."

The team's laughter at Jackson's fish-out-of-water look was interrupted by the beep of Sam's radio, "Col Carter we have an incoming radio signal from P27-N48."

"On our way, Walter." She allowed everyone else to file out the door when she caught sight of Cam's haunted look, "I'm sure it's nothing."

Her statement did nothing to ally his fears; Kitchny's situation had been on his mind since he'd been able to hold a thought in his head. He'd been exceedingly proud of Kitchny for coming back to help them, and not just because it had saved his life. Cam gripped the blankets, intending to throw them off so that he could follow his team, but was stopped by Carolyn's restraining hand on his good shoulder.

"_Don't_ even think about it."

Sam jogged down the stairs to the control room behind Vala, hoping that she hadn't lied to Cam, that it really was nothing. "This is Col Carter."

"Col Carter, I am Mattus, Kitchny's Second. I come baring a message from him for Col Mitchell and your team. May I come through?"

Sam nodded at Walter to open the iris; she distinctly remembered the blond-haired young man from their previous visit, always two steps behind Kitchny and Cam. "It's safe to come through now."

The team entered the gate room just as the wormhole closed. Mattus stood frozen at the top of the ramp, eying the half dozen marines that had their weapons aimed at his head. Sam gave the stand down order as they approached the ramp.

Daniel spoke up, seeing that the kid still had no intention of moving. "It was just a precaution Mattus; we've had people impersonate our friends before. Come on, we'll take you to Col Mitchell and you can give us the news."

Mattus inclined his head silently and followed the team toward the infirmary, still slightly nervous about the reception he'd received.

Cam sat up a little straighter and tugged at the sling that encased his right arm when he caught sight of Mattus trailing behind his team. "Mattus, please tell me you've got _good_ news."

The younger man shook his head, "I do not; it is my misfortune to inform you that the Ori have come to our village. Kitchny has sent me to enlist your aid."


	7. Chapter 7

The standing members of SG-1 shared a look, could the Ori be any more of a pain in their collective ass? Cam's head dropped back onto a pillow will a soft thud. "Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath, "when?"

"Earlier this day, they behaved exactly as you said they had on other planets. The Prior allowed us fifteen days to decide our minds."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, "two weeks; they usually only give civilizations two or three days. Did he know we had been there?"

"I don't believe so. His arrival coincided with the conclusion of Kitchny's coronation; as new chieftain, Kitchny was able to convince the Prior that he would need time to win the people's hearts before he attempted to influence their minds."

"Way to go Kitchny."

Cameron winced as he forced his legs to swing off the edge of the bed and sat up; he gripped the mattress tightly to keep himself from falling to the floor as he waited for the black spots to stop flitting around in his visual field. No way was he going to issue orders while lying in an infirmary bed, but it appeared that this was as close as he would get to standing for now. Mitchell saw Sam reach a hand toward him, but shook his head, "I'm fine Sam. Can we make them disappear?"

"As long as I have enough time to set up properly, yes."

"Good, for how long?"

Sam grinned, glad that she could finally put her new theory to good use, "indefinitely. I've developed a parallel configuration with a bi-phasic current in which a positive feedback loop acts as a capacitor and allows half the power sources to charge while the others are in use. I'm only a day or two away from making the changeover automated."

"Damn, I'm impressed."

"Thanks," Carter smiled bashfully.

"Naw, I meant I was impressed with myself because I actually managed to follow everything you just said." Cam gave a wicked grin at her outraged sputter, but nearly fell off the bed when she shoved his good shoulder. He held a hand up in surrender, "kidding, kidding; good work though."

Vala, Daniel and Teal'c shared a small smile; not only had Cameron survived, but he was quickly returning to his old self and that was something they were exceedingly grateful for. Carolyn had warned them of the possibility of brain damage due to the combination of his high fever and the fact that he'd gone into cardiac arrest before they'd got him back through the gate.

"Teal'c, Vala, use your networks to _quietly_ find out how long it will take the closest Ori ship to reach the planet. Daniel, what do you say we use those fancy linguistic skills of yours to convince the General to give us a go for this."

"Us?" Jackson's raised eyebrow said everything his words hadn't.

Cam returned Daniel's stare with a steely one of his own. "Yes, us; we have ten days to prepare, I'll be ready by then. Mattus, I'll walk you to the gate." He brushed by the team, daring them to refute his statement.

Cam ignored Mattus's concerned glances as he slowly limped along the hallways toward the gate room. "I've got a job for you and Kitchny too. I need you to reinforce all the tunnels; only use people you can trust, we don't need the entire village knowing our plans. We've had some nasty luck with Ori spies."

"Understood, there are several that Kitchny and I have been friends with since childhood, they are above reproach." He watched as Mitchell sank into the wall while they waited for the elevator, "are you certain it is wise for you to accompany your team?"

"Oh yeah, no worries, besides I'd still like to have a little chat with Zaka. Has he tried anything since we left?"

Mattus nodded with a grim smile, "several times. However, I believe that Kitchny and I have put him in his place now." He tried to contain his flinch as the elevator doors finally opened, so many things on this world were completely alien to him.

"Good; the Prior gave you fifteen days, which means they'll be back in twelve or thirteen, so barring a stand down order from the General, we'll be there in ten." They waited at the bottom of the ramp as Walter dialed the gate, "give Kitchny my congratulations."

The younger man inclined his head, "I will do so, and pass on the news of your recovery, he will be most pleased. We will look for your coming in ten days."

Cameron watched Mattus climb the ramp and disappear through the puddle before hobbling out of the gate room and around the corner to a never used portion of the corridor. He collapsed heavily against the wall, slid down to the floor, and bit his lips against the massive amounts of pain coursing through his body; pretending he was fine was getting to be too much.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Vala popped her head around the door frame, a huge grin plastered on her face; they had angel food cake in the commissary, which just so happened to be his favorite. Unfortunately, her excitement was wasted on Cameron as he was passed out on his desk; one hand resting on the keyboard and his head lying on a thick pile of papers. She pouted for a second, knowing that she shouldn't wake him- she'd seen the hell he'd been putting himself through in the last week trying to regain his strength so that he wouldn't be a burden on them- but the angel food cake would be worth it. "Cameron!"

"Wha-," his head shot up, quickly followed by the bright purple fiberglass cast which bounced off his forehead. He rubbed at the tender area as his eyes roamed the gibberish on his computer screen and the small pool of drool on his paperwork. "What's up Vala," he asked tiredly.

"Three words: Angel Food cake." She'd heard the expression "ears perking up" before, but she'd never seen it actually happen, until now.

"You win, let's go." He tried to move as fluidly as possible, but he knew her keen eyes had picked up on his stiffness, "Doc was a little hard on me today."

Vala gave him a look that she could only have learned from Jackson, "Doc?"

Cam nodded as they moved down the hallway, "yeah, apparently physical therapists get their doctorate now." He shrugged, "must be doing something right; Carolyn says I'm healing faster than she expected."

"Well that _is_ good news." She gently led him to a table where Sam and Daniel were sitting with four very large pieces of cake.

"So… everybody ready to ship out tomorrow," Cam asked around an enormous mouthful of cake.

Three incredulous grins met his question; they knew he wasn't a hundred percent yet, but they also knew he was just inching to kick some Ori ass. "Well, I got the phase shift system lined out, but I'll need a day or two to get the village parameters set." Carter couldn't help but chuckle at the way Cam's cake had disappeared in six bites. The cake had been Vala's idea, but they'd all agreed that it was the perfect thing to lighten his mood; Cameron had been so intensely focused on the upcoming mission that no one had seen him so much as crack a smile in at least three days.

Cam struggled as the blunt end of his fork got caught in the cast that came up to his knuckles, "Damn, I'll be glad to get rid of this thing tomorrow. You do know that this means war."

Sam only laughed at the glare directed at her, "wouldn't have it any other way; but you know it was Teal'c's idea right? I had very little to do with it."

"Right, like I'm going to believe that one." Finally finished, he looked up and grinned at his team- _his_ team, even after a year and a half he still couldn't get over that. "Thanks guys, I needed that; sorry I haven't been exactly…"

"Nothing we haven't dealt with before," Daniel responded playfully. "I just spoke with Teal'c, his sources say the closest Ori ship is parked over a planet that's at least three days from –N48. And, Vala and I are all set to document every inch of the Temple just incase the Ori decide to bomb first, ask questions later."

"Beautiful! Everyone get a good nights sleep tonight, then it's time to show the Ori who's boss." With that he rose and headed to his quarters; no way he had the energy to drive home tonight.

"He's going to push himself too hard, isn't he?"

"Yup," Sam's eye followed his retreating back. There was still a distinct limp to his gait and his right arm was held protectively by his side, but his shoulders were tall and his eyes were clear; and in her world, that meant everything was going to be ok.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

"You think Kitchny told them we were coming?" Their grips unconsciously tightened on their weapons at the aggressive and outraged looks sent their way by the villagers.

"It appears to that he did not." Teal'c glanced behind him and noted with some trepidation that a crowd was gathering behind them.

"Col Mitchell, SG-1, I can not express my gratitude to you for coming to our aid." Kitchny enveloped Cam in a bone crushing hug, glad that he'd been able to save them man's life after all; however, his position didn't allow him to see Mitchell's grimace of pain. He finally released the Col and turned to face the masses; "my people, the events of days past were not as they seemed. SG-1 has returned to aid us in retaining our freedom from the Ori." He turned back to the team, "I will lead you to the gathering room."

Vala leaned toward Daniel as they moved to follow Kitchny and Mattus, "Do they look like they believe him to you?"

"Nope, I'm guessing the Ori made some sort of demonstration of their power, and now the villagers don't think they can be defeated." He sighed heavily, "luckily, we're not trying to defeat them today."

Kitchny showed them to a large center chamber with several hallways leading off of it. "You may work from here, sleeping chambers are off the corridors. Col Mitchell, I will show you our progress with the tunnels."

"Sounds good." He caught the team's confused looks, "I told you guys about that, didn't I? No, ah well, back up plan, you know, incase the Ori manage to sneak a few in before we activate the phase shift." He turned and hurried after Kitchny before they could start yelling. "So, how are the villagers holding up?"

"They are afraid, but I believe they are ready to do what is necessary." He paused, watching his people continue with their lives as normally as possible, "they are strong."

"And they've got a good leader. Wow, you guys have done some serious work here; these don't look at all like the other described." The tunnels had been transformed into four foot by six foot lit walkways with wooden support beams placed somewhat regularly along its length. "Did you get all of them done?"

"We have completed all except six sections; perhaps with your team's help we can complete them in time. If you are able, that is." Kitchny hadn't missed that Cameron's limp had gotten worse the longer they'd walked or that the color was slowly draining from his face.

Cam completely missed his meaning, "well, Sam is going to need some help too, but I'm sure she can spare me to give you a hand down here; let's get to work."

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Mitchell blinked as the bright sunlight assaulted his eyes; they'd managed to finish the last six sections in just under a day and a half. He knew that the other men had kicked it up a notch now that the Ori were expected any time. He continued to chuckle as he stepped completely out of the temple and headed for the village; Daniel and Vala were just _way_ too entertaining when forced to spend long periods of time together in a confined space. It might have been pretty entertaining to sit and watch, but he wasn't about to risk getting caught in the middle of one of their arguments. From the sounds of things they only had one room left to document; which was a darn good thing because Jackson looked like he was about three comments away from strangling the attractive alien.

He hoped that Sam and Teal'c had made the same progress as the rest of them; he knew Sam had been pretty frustrated last night during dinner. Cam poked his head into the center room to see her scowling at her laptop, "hey Sam, how's it going?" He winced when the full force of her scowl was turned on him, "that good, huh?"

Carter scrubbed at her face, "the phase shift is all set, but in every simulation I run, the power sources only last a week."

He dropped a hand onto her shoulder, "anything I can do?"

"Teal'c's out setting the last of the shield barriers around the edge of the village and I'm basically set here." Sam turned to take in the lines of pain etched into his dirt streaked face, "why don't you go lie down for awhile."

Cam turned away, angry that he wasn't able to hide his condition better, that they were busy worrying about him when they should be focusing on the mission. "I'm fine, Sam."

Carter nearly sprang to her feet and throttled him then and there. "Damn it Cameron, no you're not! You're exhausted and you're in pain, now go lie down before I knock you out myself; you're not going to miss anything in the next few hours."

Mitchell opened his mouth to argue with her, but quickly decided it wasn't worth it; he turned and headed for the sleeping quarters without a word.

Sam watched him storm off and knew he was pissed; she just couldn't decide if it was at himself, the situation, or at her. As long as she'd known Cam, he'd never made a good patient; the man absolutely hated not being able to do something for any reason, and injuries usually fell into that category.

After he'd disappeared into the furthest room, she forced her thoughts to return to the power source problem. At first she'd thought that the positive feedback loop wasn't efficient enough, but the longer she worked the more she realized she had no clue what was wrong. Carter worked for another half an hour before slamming her laptop closed in frustration.

"Does it help?" Sam looked up into Daniel's frowning visage as he dropped the camera equipment and his notebooks in the corner of the room. "Vala is driving me absolutely insane."

Sam laughed appreciatively, "and this is different from any other time, how?" She glanced over his shoulder, expecting Vala to come traipsing in the door any second, "did you leave her locked in the temple?"

Jackson cocked his head as if giving the idea some serious consideration, "good thought, but no, she went to help Teal'c place the barriers. Mitchell go back into the tunnels?"

"No, I convinced him to go lie down."

Daniel froze with the canteen halfway to his mouth, "how in the hell did you manage to do that?"

A scream of fear from the street below cut off Sam's reply; the sight of Ori soldiers in the street, their staffs aimed at Vala and Teal'c, had both Sam and Daniel reaching for their weapons.

"Put down your weapons."

"Damn," Carter and Jackson released their guns and raised their hands as the five Ori soldiers moved into the room and surrounded them.


	8. Chapter 8

Daniel grunted as he was shoved to his knees next to Vala in the square; she and Teal'c looked like they had been man-handled about as much as he and Sam had. The kicker was when Kitchny was also dragged into the large open area, struggling for all he was worth against the three pairs of hands that held him. SG-1 winced as one of the Ori soldiers back-handed the young man, sending him to the ground next to the team, "Kitchny, you ok?"

Kitchny straightened as much as his restraints would allow, "I am fine Dr Jackson. It turns out that my _loving_ brother has made a pact with the Prior: us in exchange for the position of Chieftain."

Teal'c eyed the small group of soldiers speaking with the Prior ten feet in front of them. "Does he know of our plans," he asked without looking at Kitchny.

"No, I did not trust him with that information," Kitchny replied in an equally low voice. He was about to inquire about Mitchell when the soldiers turned and advanced on them.

"Where is your Col Mitchell?"

Vala gave the surprisingly handsome soldier in front of them a brilliant smile. "Why darling," she practically purred, "why worry about him when you can have me?"

The soldier moved to strike her, but was stopped by the Prior's hand on his arm. "Vala Mal Doran, as mother of the Orici, you are afforded some level of protection," he leaned in close to her, his sour breath had her wrinkling her nose in disgust, "do not try my patience. Now, where is Col Mitchell?"

Sam sighed heavily before answering, hoping that the hesitancy in her voice would lend credibility to the lie she was about to tell. "His injuries from the last time we were here were still bothering him, so we sent him back to the SGC to rest." The best lies were always rooted in the truth.

The Prior scrutinized her for a minute before turning to his soldiers, "search the village, he is here. Place guards at all entrances to the village, allow no one to leave."

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Mattus dodged around the corner as silently as possible; he spared a glance back at the corridor he'd just come through, praying that none of the Ori soldiers had caught sight of him. Finally satisfied that he was alone, he quickly moved through the center chamber and began searching the sleeping quarters. Finding Mitchell sound asleep in the furthest room, he ran over and shook the man's shoulder, knowing that they didn't have much time before the soldiers reached their position.

Cam had his sidearm cocked and aimed at Mattus before he was even conscious of drawing it. "Whoa, sorry Mattus, what's up?" He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision and his head from the sleep induced fog.

"The Ori have returned, they have captured Kitchny and your friends."

Cameron had scrambled to his feet by Mattus's fourth word, "son of a bitch! Where are they?" He quickly pulled on his boots and grabbed his gun as Mattus hastily explained what had happened.

Mattus continued to glance over his shoulder and listen intently for the soldier's approach. "We must get to the tunnels; there we will be safe to plan their rescue."

"Right, lead on." Cam could practically hear his body creaking with each step as the stiffness brought on by two days in the tunnels made itself known. He followed Mattus down the hall to the sleep quarters that Vala had claimed; Mitchell ducked through the opening that Mattus had uncovered and moved down the length of the tunnel. "Have they rounded up the villagers yet?"

Mattus shook his head, too out of breath to answer. "Zaka has made a pact with the Ori; he has convinced them that the people will follow his rule and accept Origin. Prostration has been set for sunset; the Prior has announced that all traitors will be put to death then."

"Perfect, just perfect," Cam muttered under his breath. He began pacing the length of the short side tunnel, weighing the pros and cons of a dozen different plans in his head; unfortunately, none of them were as fool-proof as he would have liked. "How good are your people with those staff weapons?"

"Many of us are well trained in their use for hunting purposes."

"Wow, some good luck for once." He stopped pacing and faced Mattus as a plan took shape in his head, "ok, gather everyone who is willing to fight in the tunnels just outside the square. Have everyone else go to the far end of the tunnels beneath the temple; that should be far enough away to keep them out of range of the phase shift. Tell them not to come out no matter what they hear. I'm going to activate the phase shit, then I'll come find you and we can take the square."

Cam moved to the tunnel entrance they had come through just a few minutes before, but he stopped and turned to Mattus before climbing through, "look, in case I don't-" he shook his head, not letting that thought go any further. "You have to get the Prior to focus all his energy on one person while someone else takes him out from another direction; it's the only way." He rubbed a thumb across his lip, thinking the plan through one last time, before grasping the other man's hand in a firm handshake, "good luck."

"To you as well Col, we shall wait for you at the baker's tunnel entrance." He turned and took off down the network of tunnels.

The had agreed that Mattus would need at least fifteen minutes to get the villagers organized; Mitchell waited ten minutes then took a couple of deep breaths before cautiously poking his head through the trap door into Vala's room; he quickly thanked every deity he'd ever heard of- which was a good deal more than most people considering his position on SG-1- that the room and subsequent hallway were empty. He kept a sharp ear out for any indication that company was on the way as he scooted into the main chamber and began to inspect the phase shift technology for any signs of tampering or damage.

When Cam was finally satisfied that everything was in order, he moved toward Sam's laptop only to be stopped by what felt like a rather large and extremely sharp knife at his throat; he could already feel a small line of blood trickling down his neck. Cameron remained frozen as a hand deftly removed his sidearm and knife from their holsters and tossed them across the room.

"Face me," a voice growled in his ear.

Mitchell mentally kicked himself several times as he recognized the harsh vibrato; he _knew_ Zaka would betray them, he should have been more careful. He turned slowly as Zaka took a step back but continued to menace Cam with the knife.

"You may have ruined my plans initially. But now I will succeed despite your interference. I will embrace Origin and the people will love me for it."

Cam looked straight into his wild eyes as he mentally added 'delusional' to 'homicidal' on the list of Zaka's personality traits. "Are you crazy-" he dodged quickly as Zaka lunged at him, realizing that probably hadn't been the best thing to say to a crazy person wielding a very lethal looking knife. Cameron knew from his Sodan training that his best course of action was to keep his mouth shut and wait for Zaka to make the next move; the man obviously wasn't playing with a full deck anymore, and he hoped that he could use that to his advantage.

He didn't have to wait long; Zaka lunged again, aiming for Mitchell's chest, but Cam feinted left and easily used his momentum to throw Zaka into the wall. The younger man recovered quickly and swung around with his arm fully extended; Cam jumped back, but not quick enough to keep the blade form slicing into the still-healing wound on his thigh. He dropped to the ground as the leg collapsed beneath him, but recovered enough to get both hands around Zaka's wrists when the man pounced on him, knocking them both flat to the floor.

They rolled around on the floor for nearly a minute, each man flipping the other several times before Cam was finally able to throw Zaka off completely. He quickly regained his feet, knowing that he had a couple of new cuts to go along with the one on his leg, but proud that he'd gotten a couple good licks in on Zaka as well; the kid had obviously been trained by someone who knew what they were doing.

They circled silently until Zaka attacked again; Cameron deflected the blow with his forearm, feeling the knife cut into his skin yet again, and delivered a knee to Zaka's ribs and a final right hook to his temple, sending the man spinning into the corner.

Cam rested his hands on his knees briefly, amazed at how much ground he'd lost fitness-wise after missing a month of workouts with Teal'c, while he waited for Zaka to get up; he knew that he should push his advantage, but it wouldn't do much good if he passed out from oxygen deprivation soon after. When Zaka didn't show any sign of movement, Cameron gathered his gun and stepped forward to roll the other man over; he kept an eye out for any indication that Zaka was conscious, not wanting to get skewered because he acted too quickly.

Upon rolling the man over, he saw exactly why Zaka wasn't moving. He felt a twinge of remorse as he gazed upon the knife that was buried to its hilt in Zaka's chest; but Mitchell quickly pushed that aside and moved over to Sam's laptop, he was already way over-do in activating the phase shift.

"Sam, please don't have changed your password," he begged quietly as he typed in the word 'fishing'. To his relief the screen blinked on and he ran through the activation sequence that Sam had taught him a few months before. He closed his eyes as he hit 'enter' one final time, and smiled in triumph as he felt that creepy-crawly sensation rush through him.

Cam's high was short-lived as he realized that it would only take one staff blast to undo all of Sam's work. He quickly moved to the pile of her equipment and searched for the spare shield generators he knew she would have brought; snatching four, he placed them at the four corners of the table and entered the coordinates in the computer.

He had known all those hours spent in Sam's lab would pay off someday. Cameron activated the force field around the equipment then quickly placed the remote in the box with the very similar looking C4 detonators, before collecting his weapons and heading for the door where he ran head long into three Ori soldier. Back-pedaling a few steps, Cam raised his gun.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Daniel shivered as he felt the shifting sensation course through his body. "Sam, was that what I think it was?" He watched with a smug smile as the Prior and the soldiers looked around in confusion.

Carter nodded, "yeah, Cam must have remembered the activation sequence."

"But how does that help us now, the Ori are already here?" Vala's cocked head and furrowed brow would have been much more comical if their situation weren't still so dire.

Sam kept her voice low as one of the soldiers looked their way. "Now these guys can't communicate with their ship and they can't get any re-enforcements."

"Well that makes sense." She wiggled her shoulders a bit before smiling in triumph, "and I- am just about- free."

"As am I," Teal'c intoned from beside her. "Col Mitchell is undoubtedly planning a rescue, I believe that will be our best opportunity for escape."

The sat in silence for a minute, contemplating their next move, before a short burst of P-90 fire broke the relative stillness of the village.


	9. Chapter 9

"Do you think that was our rescue party," Vala asked with a worried frown.

"I certainly hope not," Daniel murmured as he shifted off his knees; his legs had long ago gone numb from the hips down. The others mimicked his movements as they tried not to think about the implications of the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the village.

Sam fidgeted for another fifteen minutes before she couldn't stand it any longer, "they would have brought him here if they'd captured him, right? So, no news is good news?"

"I believe that is what you would call news, Col Carter."

They followed Teal'c's gaze to their left where two Ori soldiers were dragging a third, apparently unconscious man down the street; the black t-shirt and green fatigue pants left little doubt as to the man's identity. The closer they came, the more injuries that became apparent; blood dripped from Cam's nose and split lips as well as several other cuts that ranged over his face and arm. The dark patch spreading over the left thigh of his fatigue pants was also rather worrisome.

Mitchell grunted as his upper body made contact with the ground in front of his team; he managed to raise his head enough to survey his fellow prisoners. The ghost of a smile played across his bruised visage as his eyes settled on Sam, "and you said I wouldn't miss anything." Cam's head dropped back into the dirt as the encroaching darkness finally won out.

The team's heads shot up in unison as the Prior raised his voice, "then destroy it!"

The soldier's head dropped slightly at the admonishment, "we tried, but he was able to place some form of shield around the technology. We questioned him at length, but he refused to divulge his actions." The commander practically growled at Cameron's prone body on the ground behind him; the man had effectively ruined his perfect record.

The Prior surveyed the team, deep in thought, before turning back to the commander, "gather the villagers; they are foolish enough to do anything to keep them from harm." He glared at Kitchny who returned his look with one that promised retribution.

The commander gathered his men, intending to search each house until he had rounded up every man, woman, and child of the village.

Vala wiggled for ten more minutes before she felt her bonds fall away; she could tell that Teal'c was also free by the way he had stilled moments before. Even with two of them free, their odds of a casualty-free escape were not good. Vala glanced toward Cameron knowing that something needed to be done for the man. Banking on that idea that none of the six remaining soldiers had the courage to shoot the mother of the Orici, she scooted toward Cam and gently rolled him over.

Sam and Daniel both opened their mouths in a small sound of protest, but quickly shut them, not wanting to alarm the soldiers any more than Vala already had.

Vala's gambled paid off; the soldiers and the Prior simply watched as she tore the bottom of her t-shirt off to cover Mitchell's larger wounds. Satisfied that she'd managed to at least slow the bleeding, Vala crawled towards his shoulders and pulled his head into her lap; she rhythmically combed her hands through his hair, trying to coax him back to the land of the living.

Cameron moaned softly, trying to resist the pull, "mmm, five more minutes."

"Oh no you don't," Vala chided, "you need to wake up and inform us what's up your pants."

"Sleeves," Jackson correctly automatically, before realizing that Vala had most likely known exactly what she was saying.

Mitchell shifted, trying to make himself more comfortable. "Very funny," he muttered, barely on of the verge of coherence. Cam took a quick visual survey of Kitchny and his team, "you guys ok?"

Sam gave a wry grin; typical Cam, he was lying on the ground, barely able to move, and he was worried about them. She considered giving him the standard 'we're fine', but she knew he'd see right through it, even in his compromised state. "We're a little battered, but basically in one piece. How'd you know to activate the force field around the phase shift equipment?"

"Common sense; I knew that they could destroy all your work pretty easily if I didn't, and you showed me the sequence a couple of months ago in your lab."

Daniel knew he shouldn't be nearly as surprised as he was; but after working with Jack for eight years, old habits were hard to break. Not that Jack wasn't intelligent, he just absolutely hated techno-babble and tuned out all of his and Sam's explanations unless they were directly pertinent to whatever dire situation they happened to be in. Cameron not only understood most of what he and Sam expounded on, but he put in the extra effort to learn everything he could about what they were working on at any given time.

"Perhaps we should attempt to affect our escape before the villagers are placed in harm's way." Teal'c and Kitchny moved closer to the others, filling the void Vala had left behind, so that they could participate in the conversation without being overheard by the Ori.

Cameron grimaced as he shifted again, trying to determine how well his body could obey his commands. "The villagers are safe; outta sight and outta touch with this dimension," he stated cryptically. "And, I think we may be getting a much needed distraction and some help anytime now."

Thirty seconds later they got a distraction, but it certainly wasn't the one Mitchell had been talking about. The commander stalked into the square, fury evident on his face, and straight up to the Prior. "They are gone; we searched every building in the village, but were unable to locate a single villager. My men have begun to search the woods, but I believe that our prisoners are responsible for their disappearance."

The Prior surveyed the team with a hard look before moving to stand in front of Kitchny, "where are your people?" His frown deepened when Kitchny remained silent; he'd noticed that the Chieftain had paid particularly close attention every movement the injured man had made. "Perhaps you would prefer that I pry it out of him," he turned his staff toward Cam.

Cameron cringed inwardly, knowing what was coming, "Kitchny, don't say a wo-" He was cut off as his throat constricted. He stared the Prior in the eyes, refusing to be intimidated, even as his eyes began to roll back up into his head from lack of oxygen.

Kitchny and the team knew that the Prior would gleefully kill Mitchell no matter what they said, but finally Kitchny couldn't stand it any longer, "Wait! I will-" He stopped as the sound of staff weapons filled the air.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Two buildings away Mattus had watched with trepidation as the soldiers had dragged Mitchell into the square. He'd felt the metaphorical weight on his shoulders increase when he realized that their lives now rested on his ability to organize and inspire the villagers to rise against the Ori. Mattus was proud of his people; many of the able-bodied man and even some of the women had volunteered to fight for their freedom.

He'd quickly ushered everyone back into the tunnel when he'd seen the trio of soldiers headed their way. Mattus knew that with the majority of the soldiers out searching the village and the woods, they had the best possible odds for their rescue attempt, but he wouldn't risk running into any soldiers before they reached the square.

Once he was sure that the soldiers had moved on to another building, Mattus began organizing his new army so that they could coordinate an attack on the square from all sides.

He stayed low as he moved in the shadows of the buildings, inching his way toward the square. He saw the other four groups of villagers take their positions out of the corner of his eye. They were eighteen against eight, but Mattus knew that the Ori had the superior training and he wasn't stupid enough to presume that they could pull this off without someone getting hurt. He gauged the situation quickly before giving the order to attack, but instantly gave the previously agreed upon signal when he saw the Prior's staff glow a bright blue. The villagers rushed into the square, staff weapons blazing; they managed to take down a few of the Ori soldiers before they coordinated enough to find cover and return fire.

Teal'c and Vala turned and disabled the staff weapons of the closest soldiers as soon as the shooting started; they took opposing positions of protection around Kitchny and their teammates knowing that there was no way any of them would leave Cam exposed and their bindings prevented them from helping him to safety.

"Damn it guys, get to cover; that's an order," Cameron ground out as he struggled to his hands and knees.

Sam just gave him her patented 'like that's going to happen' look before yelling at Teal'c that there was a soldier on his right.

Mitchell watched as the prior raised his staff and sent several of the villagers flying. Knowing that he had to get the Prior's attention off the villagers, Cam forced his body to move toward the man, if indeed you could still consider him a man. He got close enough to launch himself at the Prior's legs without being noticed and was able to bare the man to the ground. His success was short lived as he soon felt himself lifted into the air.

Four simultaneous blasts nearly disintegrated the Prior's body; the resulting silence was almost deafening.

Teal'c and Vala shared a fleeting look of triumph before turning to Mattus and Kitchny, wondering how the later had managed to free himself and get his hands on a weapon in such a short amount of time.

Cam looked up from the dirt, huffing slightly, "good work guys, but the next time you disobey a direct order…" He trailed off at their amused looks, "aw hell, who am I kidding; thanks guys."


	10. Chapter 10

**Life's been busy, so this is a short one. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in a few days. Please read and review, let me know you're not getting bored with the story; or I suppose, if you are.**

"Ok boys and girls, we're not out of the woods yet; we've still got a dozen or so Ori soldiers out in that woods that we need to round up before we can bring the rest of the villagers back."

Carter nodded, "Teal'c why don't you help Cam back to the gate, the rest of us will divide into groups and go hunting."

Cameron shook off Teal'c's helping hand as he slowly got to his feet, "Sam you know I respect you and your ideas more than anything, but I am still CO of this team and we are going to finish this together." He looked her straight in the eye without flinching.

Sam returned his stare knowing that this was one argument that she wouldn't win; "Dr Lam is going to pitch a fit when we bring you back in this condition."

"I will handle Carolyn." He motioned to where Jackson was wiping a small amount of blood from his cheek, "besides, I'm not the only one who's hurt here."

"Oh yes, because this is so the same as that," he poked at Cam's leg where blood was already seeping through Vala's t-shirt.

"Perhaps the conclusion of this argument should take place _after_ we capture the remainder of the Ori soldiers," Teal'c's stern voice stopped the three human members of SG-1 in mid-shout. They looked properly contrite as they surveyed the group of villagers waiting to follow their lead.

"Right, thanks Teal'c; we need two of you to stay here to guard our prisoners, the rest of you, groups of four. Try to take them alive, but remember that they won't return the favor. Kitchny you're with me." Cam left everyone else to organize themselves as he and Kitchny headed for the perimeter of the village; Mattus jogged after them, unwilling to let Kitchny out of his sight again. They encountered their first resistance just short of the village edge; Mitchell ducked to the opposite side of the street and motioned for Kitchny and Mattus to take cover. "Drop the weapons and raise your hands," he hadn't really expected to be obeyed, and easily found cover long before the staff blasts filled the space his head had recently occupied.

Kitchny and Mattus took their unspoken cue and fired on the soldiers from behind; permanently silencing their weapons.

Cameron looked on the downed soldiers in frustration; he had not wanted a high body count on this mission, which was the whole point in taking the village out of phase. He still regretted the fact that Zaka was dead; the kid may have tried to kill him and been a traitor to his people, but he was still a human being. Cam knew he would have to give Kitchny the bad news at some point, although he suspected the other man had already guessed the situation.

The other groups ran into similar situations, and it wasn't long before all the Ori soldiers had been zatted into unconsciousness and left by the gate. The idea was that they would have no knowledge of how the village had vanished once they woke.

Ten minutes later Mitchell found Sam rifling through the equipment in the main chamber, "Holy Hannah Cam, where'd you hide the remote, I can't find it anywhere."

He laughed appreciatively at her exasperation, "in with the C4 detonators; figured that would be the last place anyone would look, apparently I was right." He waited for her to deactivate the phase shift before radioing Daniel, "Ok Jackson, grab Kitchny and bring the rest of the villagers up from the tunnels."

"Cam!"

Cameron cringed at Sam's tone of voice, hoping with all his heart that whatever the problem was, it wasn't his fault. "I didn't touch anything, I swear."

"Guilty conscience much," Sam raised a very Teal'c-like eyebrow at him. "You didn't do anything wrong, I just figured out my power source problem."

"Nice work, any chance I'll understand the explanation?"

Sam just shook her head, knowing that he was a lot smarter than he ever gave himself credit for. "My connecting cables aren't large enough diameter to carry the current needed for the positive feedback loop to work properly. It's so simple I can't believe I didn't see it before."

Cam gave her a smug smile, "see taking a break from your work is a good, gives you a new perspective on things."

"Yes, but I prefer to take my breaks in the commissary rather than tied up with a staff weapon in my face," she replied, wrinkling her nose in his direction. "Any chance I could talk you into running back to the SGC to get the right cables for me?"

"Sure, no problem," he answered slowly, not liking the mischievous glint in her eye. "What diameter do you need, and where do I find them?"

Carter tried to suppress her surprise at how easily he'd agreed to her request. Now she knew he wasn't running on all cylinders; if he had been, Cam would have realized that he would be ordered to the infirmary the second he set foot in the SGC and not allowed to leave for a very long time. "1.5 cm with quick connects on both ends, they're in the far corner of my lab."

"Ok, I'll be back in a jiffy." Mitchell turned and limped toward the door as fast as his abused body would move; time was of the essence.

Sam watched him leave with conflicting feelings and knew that he would be pissed when he figured out what she'd done. She cared for Cam and truly respected him and his abilities, but there were times when he was just too damn stubborn for his own good. "No, you won't," she murmured as she returned to her work.


	11. Chapter 11

Cameron whistled as he made his way through the tall grass toward the gate; he knew that if he didn't keep his mind occupied and his body moving he would be face down in the dirt, _again_. Cam wasn't stupid, he knew he was reaching his limit, but his team and the village were more important than his health.

He caught movement out of the corner of his better eye, both were fairly swollen, and had his gun primed before his brain reminded his reflexes that Teal'c and Vala had been keeping an eye on the Ori ring platform. "Hey guys, all quiet on the western front?"

Twin looks of absolute confusion met his question.

"Right, forgot who I was talkin' to. I'm headed back to the SGC to grab some things for Sam."

"But won't General-" Vala stopped abruptly when she received a sharp elbow in the ribs from Teal'c. She shot him a sharp look, but kept her mouth shut.

Mitchell had closed his eyes to ward off a sudden wave of dizziness, so his missed the silent exchange, but he knew something was going on. He gave them a strange look, "What is up with every-"

The distinct sound of a ring platform powering up had Vala and Teal'c racing for cover and Cam reaching for his radio, "Sam, phase shift now!" He stood transfixed, waiting for the village to disappear; it vanished only a fraction of a second before he felt a strong hand grab the back of his collar and haul him over the rocks to cover.

Cameron barely registered the sound of the rings powering down as his recently-broken ribs reiterated how little they appreciated sudden movements. He knew that Vala and Teal'c were busy keeping an eye on their new arrivals, so he took a minute to allow the pain to subside before crawling over to keep a lookout with them.

The Ori soldiers and another Prior surveyed the area before moving to check on their downed comrades. The Prior waved his staff, instantly reviving the soldiers, "what has transpired here?"

The young soldier looked up, mystified at the disappearance of the village. "I do not know, we had captured SG-1 and the village leader, but the villagers attacked. The Prior was killed."

Vala, Teal'c and Cam ducked down as the Ori separated to begin searching the area. "That was close."

Mitchell shook his head as he and Teal'c stared at her in amusement, "thank you, Captain Obvious. How long do you think they'll stay?"

"They will stay until they believe the village has been destroyed."

Cam dropped back to his butt behind the boulders, "wonderful, guess we just wait for them to leave or it gets dark; either way, we're going to be here a couple hours." He grabbed for his radio as a sudden thought struck him. "Sam, if you can hear me, it worked. You activated the phase shift in time, the Ori are clueless as usual," he whispered, relief flooding his voice.

Back in the village, Carter also felt relief wash over her. Now all they had to do was get the thicker cables here so that the village could remain hidden indefinitely; her initial simulations had over-estimated the capabilities of the power sources, they really only had about six hours left.

Knowing that the technology would be safe, Sam made her way to the edge of the village where Daniel and Kitchny stood, watching the action.

Jackson glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "Mitchell's gotta be one of the dumbest men alive, at least when it comes to his own life." He sighed, allowing his frustration to show through, "we came running as soon as we heard his message over the radio; idiot stood out there ready to distract them if you didn't activate the phase shift in time. Luckily Teal'c's a little smarter than Mitchell is, hauled him back behind those boulders; I'm pretty sure they're still there."

Sam nodded, "yeah, he and Vala caught on to that SG-1 trait of sacrificing yourself for the team a little too quickly."

Next to her, Kitchny shifted uncomfortably, "how is it that they do not see us?" He had every faith in the team, but this technology was new to him and it was extremely unnerving to be standing in plain view of people that would gladly kill him on sight.

Carter winced, wondering how she was going to explain that to him. Kitchny and his people were still mystified by the technology of their staff weapons, so it was highly unlikely that he would have any chance of comprehending M-theory. "Um, well… it's ah-, kinda like we picked up the entire village and moved it to a different world." She stopped realizing how crazy that sounded. "Ok, so not really, we're in a different dimension so they can't see, hear or feel us. Does that make any sense?"

Kitchny nodded, but the confusion didn't leave his face.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Four hours and three hiding spots later, the sky was finally darkening and Cam's legs were completely numb. He glanced at his watch knowing that time was running out. Cameron peered through the tall grass at the soldiers again, "damn, and people say I'm stubborn. Are they ever going to leave?" He wasn't really expecting an answer as he weighed their options for success; none of the scenarios ended as well as he would have hoped. "Alright, I'm going to try for the gate; if we don't get those cables to Sam soon, she's not going to be able to maintain the phase shift."

Teal'c gave him a hard look, "Col Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran and myself are much more capable of stealthy movement at the current time."

"Yeah, I know, I'm not a 100 percent right now. But you guys can also put up a much better fight than I can if the power source conks out before I get back.

Vala looked like she still wanted to argue, but she remained silent knowing that he was right.

"I'm not going to say no to covering fire, but don't betray your position unless you have too." Cam bit his lip against the pain as he commando-crawled through the high grass toward the gate; the Ori soldiers had stayed fairly close to the village, so the temple and the hills blocked their view of the gate. He just hoped that none of them were trained sprinters so that he would have time to dial and get through the gate before they could cover the distance; the gate wasn't exactly quiet once it started dialing.

Upon reaching the DHD he glanced back to make sure that Vala and Teal'c were in place, but well hidden. It was like he'd told Bra'tac during the first invasion of the Ori fleet, 'he was all about noble death. Pointless noble death, on the other hand…', yeah not so much. He was also rather happy to see that none of the Ori soldiers were in sight. He hunkered down as low as possible, while still being able to see to dial, and readied his weapon.

He punched in the sequence and sent his IDC as quickly as possible; he listened for the distinct clunk as each cheveron locked while he watched for the Ori's approach. Sure enough, they hadn't wasted any time in moving toward the noise and appeared in his visual field just as the kawoosh erupted from the gate. He knew that he had to give Walter time to open the Iris before he dashed through, so he sent a thank you skyward that the soldiers wouldn't be able to spot him crouched behind the DHD for at least another hundred yards.

Mitchell debated whether he should fire off a few rounds before he made for the gate, or if he should take the stealth approach; he decided on the later. Cam made it to within ten feet of the plateform before the Ori opened fire. He returned fire without looking as he ran up the steps and dove through the puddle.

Three point two seconds later he hit the ramp rolling. "Close the Iris," Cameron yelled as he scrambled to his feet and jogged from the gate room; no point in sticking around to get yelled at. He caught a fleeting glimpse of Walter's stunned face just before he made it to the hallway.

Mitchell knew his appearance was garnering a number of strange looks, but he ignored them as he made his way to Sam's lab. He was slightly surprised to find Bill Lee working on a new piece of ancient technology once he got there. "Hey Doc, how's it coming?"

"Well, its…" Lee's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he gave Cam a visual once-over, "ah, shouldn't you be in the infirmary?"

Cameron shrugged him off with a dismissive wave of the hand as he pawed through Sam's equipment for the needed cables. "Naw, its worse than it looks; gotta get these back to Sam ASAP anyway. Good luck with that thing," he gestured to the device on the lab table and headed out the door.

Cam jogged back down the hallway; the cables in his left hand, his right wrapped firmly around his rib cage. Glancing at his watch, he couldn't believe twenty minutes had passed already. He was thirty feet from the gate room when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Cameron Mitchell, where _exactly_ do you think you're going in that condition?!"

As soon as he heard Carolyn's voice, he knew he'd been set up. _Samantha Cater, you are a dead woman!_


	12. Chapter 12

Col Reynolds stepped through the gate and quickly dropped down behind the platform as he scanned the area for Vala and Teal'c. The Jaffa had assured him that it was safe to come through, but Reynolds had to wonder at his definition of "safe" as he watched a contingent of Ori soldiers approach. He jumped when a light hand dropped onto his shoulders.

Vala grinned at the surprised Col, "welcome to the jungle Col, this way." She headed away from the soldiers at a crouched run without bothering to make sure he was following her.

They met up with Teal'c just outside of the village outline; all three were grateful for the moonless night cloaking their movements from the Ori.

Reynolds tapped the cables against his his leg in a strange mixture of boredom and anxiety, "so… we just wait?"

"I don't not believe it will take long for Col Carter to receive the message that the cables have arrived." Teal'c didn't even bother to ask if Mitchell had gotten caught and sent to the infirmary. He was having trouble deciding if he approved of Carter's trap or not; on one hand, he knew that the Col needed medical attention, on the other, he could understand Mitchell's need to keep an eye on his team.

As usual Teal'c was right, they had less than a minute to wait before the village flashed around them. They instantly felt a shifting sensation rush through them as Sam took the village back into the other dimension. They could just make out the outlines of the soldiers racing toward the village, only to stop in confusion as it once again disappearred.

"Kinda entertaining isn't it?" Daniel watched the soldiers turn to the Prior for an explanation; he grinned, knowing that the mystical man would have nothing to offer. He turned to the newly-arrived Col, "I'll take you to Sam; we don't have a lot of time left."

Sam looked up from her work as the two men entered the main chamber; she wasn't at all surprised that it was Reynolds delivering the cable. "Did Carolyn bite his head off?"

"Oh, I think he'll be lucky if she stops there."

Sam and Daniel winced in sympathy; Carolyn tended to get just slightly pissed when someone didn't come in for treatment right away. Carter squared her shoulders, "it was for his own good," she stated, trying to sound confident in her decision. She grabbed the new cables and began hooking them up to cover her unease.

Jackson and Reynolds were silent as they waited for Sam's pronouncement that the change had worked; both knowing how meticulous she was in her work, they settled in for the long wait.

Surprisingly, Carter let out a small squeal of excitement after only five minutes. "I love being right." She glanced at the two men with a smug smile, "now the only question is whether we should wait for the Ori to leave before we head to the gate."

"I believe that question has been answered for us as well; the Ori have departed for their ship."

"Does that seem just a little too easy to anyone else?" Daniel's raised eyebrow accompanied his question.

Vala spoke up as she plopped herself into Jackson's lap, "oh, they'll be back; but if I know them as well as I think I do, they'll wait a day or two and try to surprise the villagers."

"She's got a point." Reynolds held up his hands in mock surrender when SG-1 cocked a collective eyebrow in his direction, "what? It sounded like something Mitchell would have said."

Everyone just shook their heads as they began packing the gear.

"Hey, someone want to go grab Kitchny and Mattus so I can show them the activation sequence?"

Vala hopped to her feet to comply with the request; she would much rather spend her time searching for a couple of good looking men then packing equipment.

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Cam winced, but kept his mouth shut as Dr Lam prodded his rib cage in an especially tender spot. He'd already gotten a small indication of how irate she was when she'd cleaned and stitched his wounds without her usual gentle touch. She'd worn a tight frown throughout the entire process; continually grumbling about stubborn military officers and the like, but that only seemed to put her in a worse mood.

He couldn't help a sharp gasp as she poked at the same spot, "you know this isn't about you right?" He put on his most winning smile, but still only barely managed to intercept the ice pack that was practically thrown at his face.

"Oh, I know that. This is about stupid male egos, and military officers being too stubborn for their own good, and a dozen other things. I never should have let you go on this mission; your original injuries were nowhere near healed." Carolyn fairly spat out the statements, her anger evident.

It took Cameron a couple of minutes to realize that only a part of her fury was directed at him. "Doc, I would've ended up like this even if I'd been completely healthy to begin with; you letting me outta here a little early had nothing to do with it." He saw her start to object, "Carolyn, we have dangerous jobs, we're going to get hurt, there is nothing you can do to prevent that. The thing is, we know that we have you to patch us up, and you're one of the best at what you do. That's all any of us can ask for."

She paused in the process of covering the stitches on his forearm and hung her head, "you would think I would be used to all of this after two years." Her moment of vulnerability lasted all of three seconds, "but I do wish you'd all take better care of yourselves; which includes coming to see me _as soon as _you get hurt." She prodded his injured side just hard enough to get her point across.

"See Cam, I'm not the only one."

He looked up to see Sam leaning in the door frame with her arms crossed. "You know it's not fair to gang up on an injured man, right? How'd it go?"

"We'll leave the village out of phase for another month, but from the looks of things, we were successful." Carter moved into the room and lay a hand on his lower leg, "Carolyn, can I talk to him alone for a minute?"

"Well, I was going to do a bit more poking and prodding to get my point across, but I suppose that can wait till later. Just give me a heads up when you leave."

Cam scooted to his right and patted the bed next to him for her to sit down.

"I see you haven't gained any modesty when it comes to losing your pants yet," Sam chuckled.

It was then that Mitchell realized he was lying there in nothing but his boxer briefs; Carolyn had needed his chest and upper leg exposed for stitching and hadn't offered him any scrubs. He hurriedly pulled the blankets up to his waist, "this one doesn't count. Besides, you owe me at least one after that little set up earlier today."

Carter glanced down at her fidgeting hands before meeting his eyes again; he only looked about half as angry as she'd expected him to be. "Cam, I stand by my decision. I know you always want to be there to protect us, but we can take care of ourselves you know."

"God Sam, you think I don't know that?" Even he was surprised by the volume of his voice, but he was pissed damn it.

"Well then start acting like it, and lose that damn stubborn streak of yours!" If Cam could be mad then so could she; she was sick and tired of him endangering his life for them. Sam waited for him to yell again, but was surprised when he closed his eyes in resignation instead.

Mitchell dragged a hand through his hair, "Sam, do you know where I'd be right now if I didn't have this 'stubborn streak' of mine?" He forced his eyes open and met her bright blue ones; he continued without waiting for her to come up with an answer, "I'd be dead. I'd be six feet under and pushin' up daisies at the Wheatland Cemetery. Or at the very least, I'd been confined to a wheelchair, pushin' papers behind some desk."

Carter stopped listening the second he growled out the word 'wheelchair'; her mind's eye instantly filled with the image of dull, lifeless blue eyes partially obscured by greasy and disheveled brown hair. The other Cameron Mitchell, the one that Sam wished with all her heart that she could forget, the one who had given up on everything and everyone.

He may have had the principals to privately stand up to his so-called government, but there had been no fight, no life in him. The encounter had scared Sam more than she'd even admitted to herself. It wasn't the first time she'd met those from an alternate reality; but it was the first time that things had been so horribly wrong, people so incredibly changed, without the basics being all that different.

Her Cam would have found a way to fight the government, he would have found a way to walk again, he would have found a way to _live_. Her Cam would have kept fighting.

Mitchell watched Sam's eyes carefully and he really didn't like that haunted look that had settled into them. "Sam, yo, Earth to Sam?" He laid a soft hand on her forearm but withdrew it when she flinched. "Sam, what's wrong," he asked with concern, their earlier yelling completely forgotten.

It only took one look at him for Sam to realize what she'd asked of him only a minute ago; her Cam could no more give up his tenacity than she could stop being intelligent, it was who he was. "I'm fine really, its just- I shouldn't have told you to stop being stubborn, I'm sorry."

Cameron wasn't buying it, "no Sam, you're not fine. What's up?"

"Talk about being stubborn," she gave him a small smile. Mitchell had asked about himself in the alternate reality, but Sam couldn't bring herself to tell him the whole truth. "Just something you said hit a little close to home. I shouldn't have yelled at you, but I do wish you'd take better care of yourself."

Cameron had no doubt that there was something she wasn't telling him, something that scared her, but he'd leave it alone for now. "Fine, I'll try."

Carter couldn't help but laugh at his cute little pout. She scooted around and leaned back against the head of the bed next to him, "so, you know Lt Marsh over there has been staring at you since I came in. I would say she was mentally undressing you, but since you're already in your skivvies…" The bright shade of pink creeping up his bruised face only made her laugh all the harder.


	13. Chapter 13

**Yea, it's finished! Please, please, please let me know what you thought of it. Thanks to Loozy for the Beta.**

**STARGATE: SG-1**

"Is that _really_ necessary?" He eyed the cane she was thrusting toward him with absolute loathing; sure his leg was sore, really sore in fact, but he _so_ did not want to be hobbling around the base with a cane.

"No," Carolyn replied, completely dead-pan but with a distinctively mischievous glint in her eyes, "not if I don't release you."

Cam couldn't snatch the cane from her hands fast enough.

Jackson laughed heartily from where he was sitting on the other bed, "I think someone is just a tad anxious to get out of here."

"Don't know why I had to wait this long," Cameron grumbled, shooting a deadly glare at Daniel.

Lam couldn't help but laugh, "Have you _looked_ in a mirror lately?"

Jackson helped Mitchell off the bed before the other man could think up a suitable reply. "Movie starts in thirty at his place if you'd like to join us Doc."

Cam sputtered with indignation at his house being volunteered for the get together; not that he didn't understand the logic behind the decision, but it would have been nice if they'd asked. He'd spent so much time on base lately that he wasn't even sure his apartment was inhabitable right now and he _knew_ nothing in his fridge was edible.

Jackson easily interpreted his consternated expression, "Sam, Vala, and Teal'c went early to order the pizza and clean up a bit; figured you wouldn't be up to it for awhile. Plus this way you can go to bed whenever you get tired."

Cameron nodded with his patented 'well, yeah' expression.

Carolyn continued watch the exchange with interest; she'd heard Vala comment several times on the visual similarities between the two men, but she'd never paid much attention until now. Sure they hard roughly the same facial structure, brown hair and bright blue eyes, but she had to wonder how many of their shared expressions were original and how many they'd picked up from each other over the last two years. "Sounds like fun, what are we watching?"

"Teal'c's turn to choose, he always keeps it a secret till he hits play."

"That sounds like something he'd do. Give me ten minutes to finish up here, then I'll follow you guys there."

Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of Cam's townhouse. Mitchell conveniently forgot his cane in Jackson's Subaru until he caught Lam's look of death.

"Cameron Mitchell, where have you been keeping yourself?"

Cam looked up to see his elderly neighbor kneeling in the middle of her garden. "Hi Marilyn, I've just been working a lot lately. Your lilies look wonderful."

"Why thank you." Marilyn looked up as the trio made their way toward her, "Cameron, what on God's green Earth happened to you?" She saw him hedging, "Oh I know, you and your top secret job. But I do wish you would take better care of yourself.

Daniel couldn't help but snicker, "So do we, ma'am."

Marilyn looked at them approvingly, realizing that they were there to take care of the man she considered a surrogate son. If her daughters hadn't already been married when she met him, Cameron would have been fixed up quicker than he could blink. "I'll bring over a casserole tomorrow afternoon; you should stay off your feet for awhile from the looks of things." She knew Cameron was a wonderful cook, he'd made her a phenomenal vegetable soup from scratch when she'd had a nasty cold a few months ago, but it wouldn't hurt him any for someone else to take care of him for once. And it appeared that he had several friends that agreed with her.

Mitchell thanked her and the three friends moved toward his front door.

"Is there an old woman anyway, that doesn't dote on you?" It never failed, any elderly woman within a five mile radius of Cam instantly fell in love with the man.

Cameron's only response was a very undignified snort, which, as it turned out, was a fairly painful thing to do with broken ribs. He stepped into the house, impressed with the progress the rest of the team had made in such a short time, "Nice work guys, I'm gonna take a shower."

He was stopped by a petite but forceful hand on his chest, "No you're not; those stitches need to stay dry for a couple more days. You can however, take a sponge bath."

Vala picked that moment to sashay into the room, "Oh, I'll volunteer to wash your back." She saddled up to Cam, eyeing him suggestively, "and anything else you need help with." She laughed as he batted at her hands ineffectually before finally escaping down the hall.

"Vala, you are evil."

Vala simply grinned at Daniel, "But it's so much fun."

No one argued with that as they dug into the pizza that had arrived shortly before Cam, Daniel, and Carolyn. Apparently Teal'c had decided that "The Invisible Man" would be appropriate considering their recent disappearing act.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, Sam received a sharp elbow to the ribs. She shot a glare at Vala only to realize that her gaze was fixed on the hallway that led to the other areas of the house. There stood Cameron clad only in a pair of light cotton pajama pants; the cuts and bruising vivid on his impressive torso. He appeared completely engrossed in the movie so she had no fear of getting caught staring. Sam's eyes clouded with concern at the extent of his injuries even as she admired the view. She turned to clue Carolyn into the situation, common courtesy, only to realize the other woman was already well aware.

Daniel turned away from the film to comment of the absurdity of the situation presented, they did have experience with invisible men after all, to see the three women staring unabashedly at something or someone behind him. He turned to see Cam rummaging in the fridge for pizza. Jackson couldn't help but shake his head at the girls, wondering what their response would be if the situation had been reversed.

Carter saw Jackson's movement and knew that they'd been caught, "Uh- it's…"

"Pavlovian response, completely involuntary," Dr Lam supplied helpfully without taking her eyes off Cam. It wasn't like there was a dearth of male flesh in her daily activities, but there was just something about Mitchell. Maybe it was the fact that he was completely clueless that every female on base drooled over him on a regular basis; a trait that he seemed to share with the other male members of SG-1.

Vala scooted over and gave Daniel a kiss on the cheek, "don't worry darling, we do the same thing when you and muscles over there walk around like that.

Cam chose that moment to emerge from the fridge, milk carton in hand and a dripping white mustache gracing his upper lip, "Do what?" He shivered slightly at the looks he was receiving from the girls, even more so when they all licked their upper lip unconsciously. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Thanks for everything guys, but I'm bushed, I'm going to bed. Be sure to lock up when you leave."

He disappeared back down the hallway before another comment could be made. On one hand, it was flattering that they thought he was good looking, even this beat up; on the other, it was a little disconcerting to realize it wasn't the first time.

As he eased himself down onto the bed, Mitchell's thoughts turned to Kitchny and the village. They'd averted a disaster for now, but would it be enough to save them from the Ori permanently?

**STARGATE: SG-1**

Mitchell gave a small whoop of excitement as his three pointer hit nothing but net, "and that is the game." He reached up to high-five Sam and Daniel, wincing only slightly at the sudden movement

He turned to rub their victory in Teal'c and Vala's faces- they did it every time they won, and Cam wasn't exactly above revenge- only to see the General standing in the doorway. He instantly snapped to attention, "Sir?"

Landry smiled; glad to see his flagship team letting loose a bit. "At ease, Col, we received a message from P27-N48."

The entire team tensed immediately.

"The Ori returned yesterday, searched the entire area thoroughly and didn't find a thing. Just thought I'd let you know."

Sam breathed an audible sigh of relief, "Thank you, sir."

They waited until Landry left the court before breaking into a small celebration; true it was only one village, but in a war like this, every village counted.

"Well I think this calls for a party; everyone shower up, my place at 0700." He gave Vala a barely perceptible nod before jogging off the court.

The rest of team followed at a more sedate pace, all secretly pleased with the difference two weeks had made in Cameron's condition. They made their way to the locker rooms in anticipation of a nice hot shower.

Daniel was surprised to see Mitchell grabbing his street clothes and shoving them into a bag when he and Teal'c entered the locker area. "Going home, Mitchell?"

"Ah, yeah, I gotta clean up a bit before you guys show up." He took his time gathering the rest of his gear as Teal'c and Daniel headed for the showers. When they were finally out of sight, he doubled over in silent laughter until tears rolled down his cheeks. He had no problem maintaining his cover in spy situations and such, but when it came to playing practical jokes on his friends he was a goner.

He made sure to get out of the locker room well before Teal'c and Daniel would have finished their showers. Cam couldn't help the silly grin that graced his face as he made his way to the elevator; this was going to be absolutely classic, he'd have to make sure he had his camera ready when the others arrived.

A very anger female voice bellowing his name reached his ears just before the elevator doors closed; oh yes, this was going to be good.

Forty-five minutes later, Daniel was watching Cam and Vala fairly vibrate with excitement. "What is up with you two; you've been acting strange since the basketball game."

Cameron opened his mouth to answer, but his front door was viciously thrown open before he could get a word out. There stood Lt Col Samantha Carter, arguably the most intelligent person at the SGC, looking extremely pissed off but surprisingly amused. Of course, the most shocking part of the scene was her bright purple hair.

A camera flashed somewhere off to his left as he took in the scene, and Cam knew that Vala had captured the moment perfectly. "Hi Sam, uh, nice hair." His lip twitched as he tried desperately to keep a straight face.

Sam stalked up to him, anger and amusement warring for control of her facial expression; "And what exactly am I supposed to do when we have a mission?" She sent a glare at Vala and Daniel who were laughing so hard they needed to hold each other up.

Cam lost his composure at that point as Teal'c entered the house, stoic as ever, but with hair the same bright purple as Sam's. Teal'c inclined his head in acknowledgement of Mitchell's successful revenge.

"Sorry, Sam, but I told you the cast meant war, should have been more careful."

Carter sputtered, "But that was Teal'c's idea!"

Cameron listened to her rant for another minute before he walked over to the kitchen counter and tossed two small bottles at her and Teal'c. "We don't have a mission scheduled for three days; forty-eight hours, three washes with this and the color will be gone."

"You're sure?"

He grinned, "Yeah, we used to do this all the time when I was one the swim team."

Vala's head popped up, "Wait I've seen swim meets on TV, they wear those little… right?"

Everyone groaned at the look on Vala's face, knowing that they were going to be subjected to swimming questions for days now. But the village was safe, everyone was healthy or well on their way, and they had a way to subvert the threat of the Ori on a small level, so they could handle Vala's questions.


End file.
